Satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) is a relatively new satellite-based service that broadcasts audio entertainment to fixed and mobile receivers within the continental United States and various other parts of the world. Within an SDARS system, satellite-based transmissions provide the primary means of communications. Today, Sirius satellite radio and XM satellite radio are two SDARS systems that are utilized to provide satellite-based services. These SDARS systems may provide separate channels of music, news, sports, ethnic, children's and talk entertainment on a subscription-based service and may provide other services, such as email and data delivery.
In these SDARS systems, program material is transmitted from a ground station to satellites in geostationary or geosynchronous orbit over the continental United States. The satellites retransmit the program material to earth-based satellite digital audio receivers. A typical satellite digital audio receiver has included an RF front-end, a channel decoder, a source decoder and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), in addition to a human-machine interface. In SDARS systems, using satellite digital audio receivers configured in this manner, an individual that desired to listen to a satellite broadcast at different locations, for example, in a motor vehicle and in their home, has been required to have multiple satellite digital audio receivers to receive the associated satellite transmissions.
It would be desirable to provide a user of a satellite digital audio radio service with an audio system that lowers the cost of implementing multiple satellite digital audio receivers.